Eleanor
- Eleanor feels guilty, but sometimes she sleeps through the yelling in her house; sometimes Maisie gets in bed with her. "Maisie wouldn't let Eleanor see her cry during the day, but she shook like a little baby and sucked her thumb at night" (24.3). All of Eleanor's siblings have "learned to cry without making any noise" (24.3). What a chilling life skill.
- Tonight, however, Eleanor wakes up to a different noise: slamming doors and gunshots. She reacts immediately, figuring Richie must be involved in something scary—gangs, or drugs.
- She crawls through the window and runs to the house next door. Her neighbor, Gil, who looks "mean and mad as spit" (24.12), answers the door, and Eleanor asks to use his phone to call the police. She calls 911 and waits in Gil's kitchen; he doesn't offer any other help, and shuts the door after her when she leaves to meet the cops.
- The cops tell Eleanor to crawl in through the window again and open the door for them. Eleanor thinks, "the next time she called 911, she was going to request cops who wouldn't send her alone into an occupied building" (24.29). We're with Eleanor on this one—yikes.
- Eleanor gets back into the house, opens the front door, and runs back into her room. She hears the police enter the house, and Richie shouting; her mom comes into the bedroom, puts a hand over Eleanor's mouth, and tells her not to say anything: "If they ask, say it was a mistake. This was all a mistake" (24.39).
- Eleanor hears the police talking to Richie, and then hears them drive away. Richie actually comes into the kids' bedroom (he never comes in, apparently) and asks Eleanor what she was thinking.
- Eleanor's mom tries to defend her, and Eleanor doesn't say anything. Richie punches the door: "Are you trying to get rid of me? Did you think you could get rid of me?" (24.52) he rants at Eleanor.
- Eleanor hides in her mother's shoulder, but "it wasn't a protection. It was like hiding behind the thing in the room he was most likely to hit" (24.53).
- Richie tells Eleanor never to call the police again, yells a few more threats, and slams the door. Eleanor's mom explains that Richie was trying to scare off some kids in the park with the gun, and then leaves. The kids all try to be quiet, and try not to cry.
- Eleanor whispers to all of them, "It's okay now" (24.62).